UP journo's arrest: SC to hear wife's plea today

TNN | Updated: Jun 11, 2019, 10:38 IST

Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court agreed to hear on Tuesday the plea challenging the arrest of journalist Prashant Kanojia who has been accused by UP police of making objectionable comments on social media against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

READ ALSO: Two more in custody for objectionable posts on Yogi Adityanath

Challenging the action of state police, the journalist's wife Jagisha Arora approached the apex court. Appearing before a vacation bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi, her lawyer Nitya Ramakrishnan pleaded for an urgent hearing saying the arrest was illegal and arbitrary. Kanojia was picked up by Lucknow police's cyber cell from his residence in Delhi on June 8 and was taken to Lucknow. An FIR was registered against Kanojia by Ashok Gupta, sub-inspector at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow. The FIR stated that Kanojia posted the message to malign the image of the CM.

"The journalist was unceremoniously taken away by men in civil dress on June 8 from his Delhi residence. It transpires that on June 7, police officials of Police Station Hazaratganj at Lucknow had lodged an FIR against him under sections 500 (criminal defamation) of the IPC and 66 of the Information Technology (IT) Act and both offences are bailable," the plea said. Police were bound to release Kanojia in Delhi itself as per the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure as the offences alleged were bailable, the petition said. "No arrest memo was prepared and neither the petitioner nor her husband was told as to why he was being taken and why the 'arresting officials' were in civil dress," it said.